The roof was quiet. Kairos did not stir, his frame trembling with the effort of combat. His side ached where the dagger had pierced his flesh, but that was distant now. His head spun with the quantity of energy he had consumed, as if his cells themselves were humming with power. There was no time to consider.
The agents of the Circle had retreated, but it was only a matter of time before they returned—stronger and more determined. His thoughts turned to the voice in his head he'd just heard. "You are not just Kairos. You are the sum of every life you've ever lived."
Each second an eternity as he stood, breathing heavily, scanning the charred streets below. The city swelled with the rhythm of life, oblivious to the battle just won on its rooftops.
Why me? Kairos mused, gazing at his palms. Why was I chosen to do this?
A gust of wind broke his daydream, and on its breath was the scent of something out of place—something alien. His senses, still elevated by the combat, were immediately in overdrive. He felt it before he saw it—movement. The soundless but purposeful step of running feet on concrete, stalking prey.
Kairos spun, instincts taking over. His eyes locked on a figure stepping out of the darkness at the other end of the rooftop. The figure was familiar—cold, serene, deadly.
The figure was tall, wearing a long black cloak that flowed behind them, their face concealed behind a mask like the others. And yet there was something different about them—something more. deliberate. This wasn't an agent. This was something else.
Kairos' breathing grew more rapid. Another foe.
The figure moved forward, commanding attention by sheer presence. They were not uttering a single word at first, but the air itself seemed to thicken as if every inch of roof was charged with an unseen current of energy. The figure tilted their head to one side, sort of like they were examining Kairos, weighing him.
"I didn't believe you'd be so. hardy," the figure finally replied, their voice calm, frosty, on the verge of laughter. "Most would have cracked under pressure from the Circle's agents by now. And yet here you are."
Kairos bristled stiffly, his fists bunched. "Who are you?"
The figure stepped into the moonlight, their eyes glinting behind the mask. "I am someone who knows precisely what you are. A reincarnate. And a strong one at that."
Reincarnate—the word echoed in his mind. It was true, but to hear it spoken by another, someone who seemed to know more about him than he knew himself, sent his blood cold.
The figure's lips curled into a tiny smile. "You do have questions, naturally. You would. I mean, you're only just discovering what you've become."
Kairos did not move. "You don't know anything about me."
"Aha, I know all about it," the figure replied with disturbing self-assurance. "I've been following you for years. The Circle has been monitoring your development, waiting for the day when you would come to life. But I. I've waited out this day, too."
Abruptly, without warning, the figure raised their hand, and Kairos felt the air twist into a deadly curve, as though the whole roof was rolling underneath him. The weight of the force was immediate, a massive burden pressing down on his chest as though the air itself had frozen to rock.
"What are you doing?" Kairos struggled to escape, struggling for air.
"A demonstration, nothing more," the figure shrugged contemptuously. "The Circle is concerned with control, with employing the power of reincarnation. But they have no conception of the potential that exists in someone like you. They think they can employ you, manipulate you to their own purposes."
Kairos gritted his teeth, fighting to stand. "And what's your stake?"
The figure's eyes burned with a supernatural fire. "I wish to free you from them. To learn to control your abilities and use them without restraint. To show you the truth."
Kairos' head was spinning, the pressure weighing heavier on him, but he was not going to let it get the best of him. His arm flashed out, and for the second time this evening, he called upon the power that resided within him. It coursed through his veins, and with a battle cry, he sent a shockwave of energy out onto the rooftop.
The figure took a few steps back, their cloak whipping wildly, but they did not appear to be affected. They smiled instead. "Impressive. But you're still holding back."
The figure raised their hand again before Kairos could even react. This time a sphere of dark energy formed in their hand, twisting with power. They flung it at him with a flick of their wrist.
Kairos only barely dodged the attack, but the energy blast was close enough that it sent him flying backward. He crashed to the ground, rolling onto his back. His body already hurt from the earlier fighting, but now he could feel the shock of the new attack in his chest, the air forced out of his lungs.
The figure was already moving, their movements smooth and purposeful, as if they were toying with him. "You're still too green. Too dependent on brute strength. You need discipline. Control."
Kairos stumbled on his feet, his breathing in broken gasps. He wasn't going to be addressed by this man. His hand flashed out once more, and this time he drew deeply back into his own past, reaching for some long, long forgotten thing. A talent, a power—something from a life he hardly remembered but knew how to utilize automatically.
Flames erupted from his hand, flying towards the form. It was a white, hot, searing fire, forged from the energy he'd only just learned to understand. But the figure moved fluidly to counter it, lifting his hand to invoke a shield of black energy that consumed the flames in a shrill crackling.
"You're getting better," the figure allowed, nodding. "But you still don't understand. You can't do anything with what's in your head alone. You have to reach for it. Feel the power. Allow it to run through you. You need to comprehend that energy if you're going to live through the Circle."
Kairos rose to his feet, his whole body screaming out for action. He was not going to be diverted by this man, not now, ever. He felt the fire inside him, but he needed something more. He needed to probe deeper.
His mind flashed, for an instant, on the warrior king, the healer, the scholar—each life, each skill, each talent—a whirlwind of knowledge swept over him. And then his own inner fire ignited.
With a cry of raw power, Kairos summoned a vortex of fire and lightning, a whirlwind of energy that screamed around him like a hurricane.
"Let us see if you can handle this," he said, his voice so calm but so deadly with purpose.
The figure did not flinch. Instead, they raised their hand, preparing for the inevitable blow.
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